Matters of the Heart

No, Mom, Shawn or Desmond. I'm not going to talk about a girl that I like because there is none at this point in time. (Shawn, don't say, "Don't bluff.")

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Somehow the past CG was exciting for me. I can't really explain it but I believe as Coach Tammie told us at the retreat that CG will be an enjoyable time, that seed was planted in my heart and it started growing and I believe that future CGs will be even more exciting.

Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)
Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.

Pastor Benjamin shared last Arrow that everything begins from the heart. What we believe in our hearts affects our thinking and what we think affects what we do. Right believing leads to right living and that belief originates from the heart.

In my NLT, Proverbs 4:23 reads, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do." What we do or say; our actions, it begins from the heart. How we react to situations and how we communicate, how we interact with people, our relationships, all these are birthed from the heart. Faith begins from the heart.

The things that are important to us are often called "close to our heart". They are so precious that Luke 6:45 calls them treasures. "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." As long as it is in our heart, it is treasure and it can be either good treasure or evil treasure and that treasure is what springs forth from us. It springs forth in our speech and our actions.

I am also reminded of Luke 12:34 that reads, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So if we consider something as important, if we treasure something, our heart is there also. I am so glad that if something matters to us, it matters to God as well.

That is why Jesus came not just to forgive us of our sins, heal all our diseases and became poor that we might become rich, but he also came to heal us of our broken hearts. In John 19:34 we can read that when Jesus' side was pierced, blood and water came out. Medical science would tell us that water came out because Jesus suffered hypovolemic shock; Jesus' heart began to beat rapidly so much so that fluid gathered around the heart and lungs. It was a literal breaking of the heart. His heart was physically broken so that we need not suffer the pains of a broken heart.

Jesus knew the importance of healing our broken hearts. He knows that faith is birthed from the heart and that if our hearts are broken we might find it hard to have faith. When we suffer a broken heart from rejection, disappointment or self-condemnation we will find it difficult to believe that God is for us. If everything begins from the heart, then if the heart cannot believe in God, how can a person believe that God will come through? Jesus died for our broken hearts so that our hearts may be pure, not hardened or closed off.

Matthew 5:8 reads, "Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God." When our hearts are so pure, purified by Jesus' blood, we will find it easier to believe God and we will see Him! I used to think that this verse was referring to when we die and go to Heaven but it is referring to our time on earth and because we are made righteous by Jesus, we have that pure heart and when we simply believe, we will see God in the here and now.

And I was so blessed by what Ireen shared about the piece of armour that protects our heart; the breastplate of righteousness. Being conscious of our righteousness in Christ is one of the ways that our hearts are kept guarded.

Romans 10:10 reads, "From with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Again we can see how everything begins from the heart. When we receive righteousness it began with the believing from the heart and from there we confess and Jesus comes into our hearts.

And when we find our hearts troubled by the cares of the world we are reminded in Philippians 4:6-8 that it is the peace of God through Jesus Christ who will guard our our hearts and minds. We only need to fill our hearts with the things mentioned in verse 8 and that includes the believing that we are righteous in Christ!

Some people might think that they have not really experienced a broken heart. They might say, "I have not been rejected by someone of the opposite sex. In fact it is I who does the heart breaking. Hehe (Jerk)" or "I have been disappointed before but not to the point of depression. I don't think that counts as a broken heart." But all these are different degrees of brokenness that is encompassed in Jesus' death burial and resurrection. Even if it is a "small" heart break Jesus died for it too whether it may be not getting into an institution of choice, a person telling us something and then doing a totally different thing, all these seemingly small things can contribute to a person's heart being broken. But Jesus died even for all that so that these things need not be harboured in the heart.

I'd like to offer another characteristic of a broken heart. A heart that has become numb to God's love is also broken. It is a heart that takes defeat as the norm. It is broken by God's standards.

God does not want us to remain defeated or disheartened (pun intended) but it is His will that we experience victory in our lives. Our hearts should be firmly founded in the finished work of Jesus which is the ultimate victory in all of history. If God's heart for us is to prosper and to succeed in life then let us determine to be people after God's heart and start believing in our hearts that because of Jesus we will reign in life!